Types of Car Accidents

There are many different types of car accidents that can result in injuries or death. These include rear-endings, broadside collisions, left-turn accidents head-on crashes, rollovers, sideswipe collisions, multi-vehicle accidents, drunk driving accidents, and hit and runs. If you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else, you should talk to the seasoned Quincy personal injury attorneys of Brabant & Huynh, LLP about whether you have grounds to sue for damages.

Car accidents occur for many different reasons including careless drivers, improperly maintained roads, and defective components. You can only recover damages if you can establish another fault, regardless of the type of accident. If it resulted in you being injured or another person being killed, or there was more than $1000 worth of damage to the vehicle or other property, the accident should be reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles within five days. Massachusetts is a no-fault state, which means that you must turn first to your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage to recoup a portion of your economic losses. You can only sue in court if your injuries meet a certain threshold.

Assuming you can go beyond your no-fault insurance and sue in court, you’ll likely need to establish another driver’s negligence by a preponderance of the evidence. You’ll need to prove the other driver failed to use reasonable care and you were injured as a result, thereby sustaining actual damages. Drivers can breach the duty to use reasonable care by tailgating, disobeying traffic signs and signals, weaving, drunk driving, or failing to check blind spots. It’s straightforward to establish negligence in certain types of car accidents, such as those in which a driver runs a red light or is found to have been texting while driving. In Quincy, and other cities in Massachusetts, a legal violation can be evidence of a driver’s negligence. For instance, if you were injured because another driver was speeding and he received a citation from the police officer who came to the scene of the accident, it may be more straightforward to establish his breach of the duty to use reasonable care to avoid injuries to those on the road. However, we will still need to establish all elements of negligence.

Although many car accidents are the fault of negligent drivers, there may be other parties potentially to blame for injuries, too. It may be appropriate to retain an accident reconstruction expert to investigate all contributing causes and bring all potentially responsible parties into the lawsuit. When an accident is caused by improper maintenance of a public road, it may be appropriate to sue the government. For instance, if you were injured because there was insufficient drainage on a state road and your car slipped off and hit a median during a rainstorm, in spite of your use of reasonable care, you may have a claim against the Commonwealth.

Regardless of the type of car accident, once we establish fault, you may be able to obtain compensatory damages. These could include pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment, replacement services and lost earning capacity. The type of car accident can affect the nature of your injuries, and therefore your damages. For instance, many head-on collisions result in catastrophic or fatal injuries. Catastrophic injuries may require lifelong treatment and rehabilitation, or even retention of a caregiver. A broadside collision or T-bone accident that occurs on the side where the accident victim was sitting is likely to be more severe than one where the force comes from the other side of the car. Rear-end accidents at slow speeds may result in soft tissue injuries.

The Quincy attorneys of Brabant & Huynh have experience litigating claims for damages arising out of many different types of car accidents. We also represent those injured in Dorchester, Mattapan, Milton, Dedham, Canton, Stoughton, Randolph, Holbrook, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Brockton, Bridgewater, Avon, Hanover, Abington, and Norwell. Call us for a free consultation at (617) 934-0913 or complete our online form.